Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Tyra Banks Rumored to Get a New Show

It is being reported that Tyra Banks, the supermodel host of "The Tyra Show", is set to get another show through ABC. The rumor is that she and Ashton Kutcher will produce a reality show focusing on beauty pageants.

Currently, Tyra is rated number 3 on the Black Enterprise List of "Top Money Makers in Hollywood". Much of this comes through her show "America's Next Top Model", which is in its tenth season. Her show, "The Tyra Banks Show" allegedly has 4.3 million female viewers per week, according to Entertainment Weekly.

At the age of 34, Tyra Banks is becoming a media powerhouse. She sells herself as a younger, prettier Oprah Winfrey and has a strong willingness to hit hard issues and do peculiar things to get her ratings up. For example, she had one episode in which she dressed as an obese person to know what it was like to be overweight. In another episode, Banks had a doctor come on the show to feel her breasts to prove that they were real. While some criticize Banks as selling herself for ratings, her tactics have helped her build two of the strongest shows in America.

Banks' show comes right after the Writer's Strike, which killed a lot of popular shows, such as "Girlfriends". Reality shows are cheaper to produce and the networks do not have to deal with unions. Black audiences are strong followers of reality shows, as Flavor of Love, The Salt-N-Pepa Show and Making the Band have all done quite well.